


Of Woes and Friendship

by Dessmina



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hermione and Harry are good besties that support each other, Implied/Referenced Torture, Male-Female Friendship, Mental Illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 07:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12127056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dessmina/pseuds/Dessmina
Summary: "He's not getting any worse.""But he's not getting any better."A.k.a. Harry and Hermione have some coffee and chat.





	Of Woes and Friendship

They met at a café in Diagon Alley. It opened a few months after the war by one of the students that took part in the battle. As such, their privacy was guaranteed and they tended to receive samples of new dishes and baked goods before other people.

The café was open, warm and easily defendable. There were other people milling around, a couple near them on what looked like an awkward date, a group of friends laughing together and many others. Not that they could actually hear what they were saying. No, the tables had privacy runes inscribed in them by the same student. This made it an ideal place for Harry and Hermione to meet and catch up.

Currently, Harry was sipping a cup of green tea while Hermione drank her dark coffee as though it was the only thing keeping her awake. And it probably was.

"How's the ministry?" Harry asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence. Instantly, Hermione scowled fiercely and tapped her mug of coffee with annoyance.

"As idiotic as ever! You know how I've been trying to advocate for the Mental Health Act?" She asked and then steamrolled without waiting for an answer. Harry sat back and let her rant, keeping half an ear on what she was saying.

"…the conditions they live in? Absolutely terrible… how are they expected to heal if no one helps… with no funding how are cures meant to be found!" And on and on Hermione went, her dark skin barely glinting in the lazy afternoon sun as she gestured wildly to make her points. Sometimes Harry hummed or nodded his head to show he was listening. Whenever he had a chance he'd add his own input and thoughts about the matter.

"But it has improved for them," Harry remarked, absently crumbling his napkin and then straightening it, during a lull in her rant. Hermione was angrily sipping her still hot coffee (thank Merlin for magic), but upon hearing his words she sighed deeply, her face softening and the tiredness more clear on her face.

"It has, but," and here she chewed her lip and then took another sip of her coffee. "I just wish they strived for more. That they went 'we managed this much so we can do even more'. But instead they think that just because they made some progress that it is enough," she went on, her cup of coffee finally drained. "Just look at the Wolfsbane potion! After it was discovered, the number of people researching the cure for lycanthropy decreased. And it will never be enough. Not while Neville's parents still can’t recognise their son and not while Ron is still-" she cut herself off here, pressing her lips together tightly. Not that Harry blamed her.

"Not while he's still mentally a child," he finished quietly for her, tightly swallowing the ball stuck in his throat. Hermione nodded and a short silence of understanding and sorrow filled the air.

"How is he?" Harry asked quietly, not looking up at her.

"He's not getting worse," she said softly, and Harry glanced up to see her staring at her empty coffee mug. Her expression reminded him of a lost child and Harry knew that the exact same expression was on his face. He looked away again.

"But he's not getting better," Harry said as softly as she did. He felt a warmth covering his idle fingers and looked at the scarred hand covering his. Her hand gave him a squeeze and he looked up to see her with a contemplating expression.

"I wouldn't say that," she remarked as she let go of his hand and tapped a rune on a table in a sequence. Instantly, her coffee mug refilled. "Some of the cures do seem to have an effect. Remember how they found a cure to make Ron start aging mentally?" Hermione paused for a second for his nod and then continued on. "Well, they have been improving the formula for it. At the start he aged a day for every seven months that passed and now he ages a day for every seven days!" She told him, a smile growing on her face.

And Harry just had to smile at that. The cure to start the aging process did not take long to find. With the saviour and all the children that fought in the battle asking for that, and the rest of the wizarding world ashamed of their actions and tripping over each other to appease them, it was easier to make mental health more of a priority. The first version of the cure for Ron was found in under six months after the Battle. It aged him one day mentally for seven months physically. However, it took them more than five years to get to this point.

"You should visit him," Hermione stated with determination etched onto her face, her eyebrows furrowed as she stared him down. Harry stared back at her, but after a while he shifted in his seat and looked away from her gaze.

"I know," he said at last, tearing the napkin in his hand into little pieces. He gave out a long sigh, tired eyes meeting hers. "It's just so hard seeing Ron so- so-" he stopped, unable to find the right words. But he didn't need to, Hermione's eyes lit up with understanding. Her demeanour did not soften. If anything it became harder as she scowled at him.

"I know it's hard, you don't think it's hard on me too? We are both his best friends. We grew up together, fought and cried, blood, sweat and tears. And you think it's easy for me? Especially when we could have-" Here she stopped, breathing heavily as her eyes watered. Harry looked away as she composed herself.

A few minutes later they sat in slightly tense silence, once again sipping their drinks.

"Just," and here Hermione seemed to age years before him. "Just please visit him, I think Ron would be happy to see you. He asked about you last time you know," she said with a tired smile.

Harry gave her a slight smile back. "I will. I'll go with George, who knows when was the last time he visited Ron," and at that Hermione lit up.

"Great! I can help you make an appointment! What time are you both available? The visiting hours-" Hermione volleyballed the questions at him before he cut her off.

"We'll manage Hermione, how about you take a nap yeah? You look dead on your feet."

Hermione shifted in her seat. "Well, I had too much caffeine for that, and I have to go back to the ministry and fight for some of the bills today."

Harry frowned at her slightly. "You should take a day off. I don't think the bills or the workers are going anywhere. We could have a film night, invite the others - Luna would love to debate with you, Ginny has hardly seen in you in the past month, and I know Neville wants to discuss something about one of his plants" Harry laid it on thick and the corner of Hermione's lip twitched.

"Alright, I'll take a day off next week. But you better visit Ron soon," she said pointedly, as she got up, retrieving sickles to pay fo the coffee.

"I swear," Harry said firmly as he waved her off.

He sat there for a few minutes, enjoying the solitude before he slipped on a wizard hat on his head and took off his glasses, safely tucking them into one of his pockets. The sickles clattered on the table as he set off to the apparation point with no one giving him a second glance.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Recently, a lot of fics I've read had Hermione tortured into insanity so I was like boi what if Ron. And there you have it. I headcanon this Harry as a professor at Hogwarts on his summer break, but I didn't really have a chance to slot it in. That's basically why he was asking Hermione how the Ministry was^^
> 
> Feel free to leave any questions you might have!


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